Across the country, wedding and portrait labs are transitioning
from analog to digital imaging technology. Most labs agree that,
with time, digital imaging will be the dominant platform for most
wedding lab services. But the pace of this transition varies
widely, depending on the adoption of digital by regional
photographers, local economic trends, and differences in individual
lab owners' business strategies.

Testing the Digital Waters
At one end of the spectrum is Pacific Color in Seattle, WA. Darrell
Johansen, who along with his brother runs the lab their parents
founded in 1967, has seen a slowdown in local wedding business,
which he blames on the sluggish economy. "The good news is we're
showing strong growth in underclass and sports photography,"
Johansen says. "And that's offset the drop in our wedding
business."

As it happens, much of the lab's high-volume photography
business is digital. So it's no surprise that Johansen credits the
lab's commitment to digital technology with its survival. "If we
hadn't started switching to digital seven or so years ago, we
wouldn't be here now," he says.

But the local wedding market is a different story, and for these
photographers, Pacific Color is still testing the digital waters.
Of the lab's film photographers, a minority - but a growing one -
is requesting digital services through the lab's Kodak ProShots
System. For these customers, the lab digitizes their film negatives
using a Kodak Professional HR500 Film Scanner configured with the
Kodak Professional Long Roll Accessory. Photographs that require
retouching are also scanned and directed through the digital side
of the lab.

But the majority of the lab's wedding photographers who want
digital services originate their images digitally. Of these
photographers, comprising 10 percent to 15 percent of the lab's
wedding business, 95 percent send their photos to Pacific Color on
CDs, along with instructions on what prints they'd like.

Regardless of whether the images arrive as negatives to be
scanned or digital camera files, the next step is the lab's digital
imaging workflow. Print production is managed by Kodak Professional
Digital Print Production (DP2) software. Typically, a test print is
generated to check color balance and then the final order is
produced.

Today, the lab sends most of its digital print jobs to its
Gretag Mileca digital printer, with a 30-inch Chromira printer
standing by to handle larger print sizes. But the Gretag printer
will be phased out, Johansen says, when the lab receives its Kodak
Professional RP 30 Laser Printer, now on order. "We think the new
printer will improve our throughput," he says. "It will also give
us new capabilities, like print back-writing, that we think we can
use to help our photographers transition to digital."

Helping photographers through the transition is one of
Johansen's key challenges in the coming months. After he began
offering the ProShots system last year, some photographers embraced
it, but others are taking their time. "Photographers who are
computer literate become comfortable with it more quickly," he
notes. To help photographers who are not, Pacific Color offers a
blend of on-site training and one-on-one consultations. "We're very
new to this and our photographers are, too," he says. "So we're
learning together."

Another source for help, Johansen says, is Kodak, which has
introduced upgrades to both its ProShots system and DP2 software.
"With the refinements to the software, we think more of our
photographers will make the switch," Johansen says. And even if
they don't, Pacific Color is in a win win position. "Because we're
a ProShots lab, we're gaining incremental wedding business from
photographers who want this type of service," he says. "We can also
offer it to existing customers if they want to try. But if they
don't, that's okay, too. We're able to take care of them no matter
what blend of analog and digital services they need."

Happy With the Plunge
In contrast to Pacific Color, LustreColor Inc. in Canton, MA,
funnels 95 percent of its wedding business through its digital
workflow. "Today, over half of our wedding photographs originate as
digital camera files," says Ken Wilson, vp, sales and marketing.
And when the Kodak Professional DCS Pro14n Digital Camera becomes
widely available, he adds, "I wouldn't be surprised if that
percentage jumps to 70 to 75 percent."

Doug Delong (left) and Jason Duggan discuss a job being sent to
the lab's Durst Zeta printer.

LustreColor has a clear niche in digital imaging services,
thanks in part to its early adoption of software that lets
photographers select, size and crop their photographs digitally, as
well as e-mail print orders back to the lab. Today, LustreColor
offers these services on a number of platforms, including Kodak
Professional Studio/Lab Link Software and the ProShots system. In
addition, the lab hosts a website - www.WeddingPrints.com - where
photographers' customers can log on, select images and create
wedding albums.

Images that originate on film are digitized on one of the lab's
two HR 500 scanners, and then sent to the lab's DP2 system. Digital
camera files are typically uploaded to the lab to one of its
high-speed FTP (file transfer protocol) sites, which are also
linked directly to the DP2 software. Proofs and prints are
generated using the lab's five printers: two Kodak Professional LED
II printers and three Noritsu MP 1600 printers.